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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29747169">Bloodstream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pittedpeachpomegranate/pseuds/pittedpeachpomegranate'>pittedpeachpomegranate</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bottom Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Consent Issues, Drugged Sex, Dubious Consent, Fever, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Sexual Coercion, Top Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, dark!Nicky, dark!fic, kinda!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:08:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29747169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pittedpeachpomegranate/pseuds/pittedpeachpomegranate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The bed is too big; the bed is too small. He can’t get up, can’t stand to be more than an arm’s length away from Nicky. But if he moves closer, it’ll be all over. So Joe rolls over to face away from Nicky, even though he can still feel the alpha’s unsettling gaze on his naked spine. Maybe if he makes it another few minutes without Nicky’s touch on his skin he’ll be able to think clearly. </p><p>When Nicky sunk his teeth into Joe’s neck during their bonding ceremony, Joe felt the way it tightened and pulled them together, felt the way Nicky sunk into his body, thick like resin pierced into his skin.</p><p>It’s like he’s being tugged, like he’s been drugged, like there’s a threaded string attaching him to this strange alpha. He’s never heard of a bond being this strong and yet this fragile before, strife with tension and yet pulling, pulling, pulling him in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>All And More Loves Joe Server Bingo 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Based on this prompt: as part of the trade agreement between the two poweful families, omega!Yusuf gets bonded to Alpha!Nicky. it’s a slightly dystopian society where omegas are not equals but mostly a precious commodity and it’s not like Nicolo doesn’t respect his new omega, it’s just that he doesn’t know any better than the awful traditions around omegas and being bonded to them. Featuring bonding fever, internal conflict and a lot of bond manipulation on Nicky’s end to keep Joe doped up on happy alpha pheromones (courtesy of @avengersnewb)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bed is too big; the bed is too small. He can’t get up, can’t stand to be more than an arm’s length away from Nicky. But if he moves closer, it’ll be all over. So Joe rolls over to face away from Nicky, even though he can still feel the alpha’s unsettling gaze on his naked spine. Maybe if he makes it another few minutes without Nicky’s touch on his skin he’ll be able to think clearly.</p><p>When Nicky sunk his teeth into Joe’s neck during their bonding ceremony, Joe <em>felt</em> the way it tightened and pulled them together, felt the way <em>Nicky </em>sunk into his body, thick like resin pierced into his skin.</p><p>It’s like he’s being tugged, like he’s been <em>drugged</em>, like there’s a threaded string attaching him to this strange alpha. He’s never heard of a bond being this strong and yet this fragile before, strife with tension and yet pulling, pulling, <em>pulling </em>him in.</p><p>“It’ll fade with time, <em>tesoro.</em>” Even Nicky’s voice is like a caress, though the reassurance is belied by the way it claws at Joe’s self-control.</p><p>He wants to get up, but he doesn’t move. A wave of frustration rolls over Joe like a thunder cloud.</p><p>“I don’t belong to you.” Joe doesn’t know why he says it. It feels important.</p><p>“You do-” Nicky catches one of Joe’s hands and traces along the underside of his wrist, and Joe shivers- “You can feel it, too. Under your skin, right in your bones. Just like I can.”</p><p>He remembers thinking Nicky was beautiful when he first saw him, even with his unsettlingly calm demeanour and piercing eyes that look right through him. He hates alphas, resents everything they stand for. But the slightest tick of disapproval from Nicky makes him want to recoil, to cast his eyes downward and beg for forgiveness.  </p><p>It’s that thought that makes Joe yank his hand out of Nicky’s gentle grip. He stands up, intending to get some space, to get <em>away- </em>and instantly feels the rush of dizziness overtake him. He feels empty. He feels sick.</p><p>Then Nicky’s arms are around him, coaxing him back into the sheets; Nicky strokes a hand along one of his hipbones and everything in Joe stutters and settles all at once.</p><p>And then Nicky leans over him, nose brushing his temple, and Joe’s heart thuds hard in his chest.</p><p>“<em>Don’t</em>-” Joe is cut off as he inhales against his better judgment and <em>fuck-</em></p><p>All the lucidity he’s worked so hard for dissipates in an instant, replaced with only <em>Nicky.</em> The bond between them flares to life, flares open, and Joe gets lots in the tide of sensation. He feels hot all over, apart from the pleasant cool of where Nicky is touching him.</p><p>Somewhere in the back of his mind is a warning. But it’s washed out in hazy, primal feelings of <em>owned and desired and loved</em>. Everything is perfumed with need, drowsy and heady and- is it even<em> his</em> desire running through his veins? Or Nicky’s?</p><p>Nicky moves his face down, inhaling Joe’s scent right near his mating bite, and his breath is so warm and inviting, his scent a comforting balm to Joe’s inner omega. It’s like a fever, addicting and sticky. His nerves are alight with temptation and longing and compulsion.</p><p>Joe is helpless to resist the mewl he lets out, or the way he bares his neck in submission, legs falling open as a new wave of arousal courses through his abdomen.</p><p>Nicky lets out a delicious hum of approval, curling at the edges and it floods into Joe’s senses, overwhelming him. He can <em>taste </em>Nicky’s happiness, his satisfaction, and it feeds the insatiable ache inside of Joe.</p><p>When Nicky kisses him, it’s a claim, and Joe hates that can’t for the life of him find the will to push Nicky away. He wants it, <em>fuck, </em>he wants it so bad he can’t think of anything else.</p><p>“That’s better, isn’t it?” Nicky murmurs softly, earnestly.</p><p>His whole being is reduced to this ancient, instinctive drive to <em>please</em>. If you asked Joe (not that anybody ever did), these arranged bonding ceremonies were archaic. They wreaked havoc on an omega’s nervous system, and Joe resents the idea of being irrevocably tied to someone he doesn’t know. To be completely and utterly at their mercy.</p><p>Nicky is still looking down at him, achingly tender. Joe tells himself he hates it. It’s not a kindness, Nicky giving him this, despite what the pathetic voice welling up in him says. He only feels this way because Nicky’s flooding his pheromones, keeping their bond open and full of <em>aroused alpha. </em></p><p>“I’ll take good care of you, my omega.”</p><p>Joe can taste the truth in his words, misguided as they are. Like this, pressed up against each other, there’s no lying to each other. But it also means Nicky can feel how much his body wants it, and it should feel violating, he should feel angry, but all he feels is <em>need.</em></p><p>The earth is caving in around him and Joe is craving the bliss of Nicky’s skin on his own. He feels himself producing slick just at the thought of getting Nicky’s knot in him again. He must be almost raw now, with the amount of times Nicky’s had him in the past few days since they were sent off together.</p><p>And Nicky is generous and affectionate and kind in his own way, but he doesn’t see <em>Joe</em>. He sees an omega, one that belongs to him. This wasn’t Joe’s choice, he wasn’t given the option to say <em>no</em> to his arrangement. He could say no <em>now</em>, he could ask Nicky to stop, and Joe knows he would. But Nicky’s bite, the bond between them, makes Joe not want to stop.</p><p>Nicky’s canines brush over Joe’s neck again and he <em>moans. </em>Nicky’s nostrils flare at the scent of his slick, sweet and syrupy, filling the small space between them. The fingers curled over his hipbones tighten a fraction, and Joe feels Nicky’s other hand circle his hole.</p><p>It’s so easy, <em>too easy</em>, for Nicky to slide two fingers inside. At some point Joe’s hands had ended up grappling at Nicky’s back, but he’s too out of it to notice the way he’s digging his nails in with the shaking need to get Nicky as close as possible.</p><p>“That’s it, <em>tesoro</em>. Let me in, let me-” Nicky shifts then, and then his cock is pressing into his wet hole, filling him, completing him in a way that, he knows deep down, nothing else could.</p><p>A lapse, then. Like an addict getting his fix, Joe’s mind goes cloudy and idyllic. And Nicky is giving it to him, Nicky <em>is</em> it, soaking into Joe’s skin with his hands and his scent. Even now, it’s not enough. Nicky drags his cock out and Joe lets out a pitiful whine, only for him to be filled again as Nicky slides back in, putting Joe on his cock where he belongs.</p><p>Nicky is all predator, prowling shoulders rolling forward as he rolls his hips in that much further, hitting Joe’s prostate. Joe chokes on air at the rush of pleasure that fills his lungs. Nicky’s going to knot him, and he’s going to sink his teeth over his mating mark again, just to claim Joe further, to send Joe down another spiral of want.</p><p>Joe is completely helpless to stop it.</p><p>Nicky’s cock drives into him, over and over, each time pushing Joe closer to that dangerous edge. He knows what’s waiting on the other side, knows he’ll have to drag himself back out of this again, but he doesn’t <em>care.</em></p><p>When Nicky’s knot swells, Joe’s heartrate picks up in equal parts anticipation and dread. Nicky can feel it, can taste it, because he can feel everything that Joe does when they’re like this. Nicky’s knot presses against his hole, but he pauses before it can catch.</p><p>Nicky’s eyes are dark as he looks down at Joe.</p><p>“Ask me for it,” he demands quietly.</p><p>And <em>this,</em> here, is the worst part. That Nicky will make Joe beg for it. That Nicky knows Joe will do it, too; will ask Nicky to do the very thing that got him into this mess. He’d asked the first time, too, and Joe had refused until he was crying from frustration, before finally giving in to his body’s urges.</p><p>This time, he offers no such resistance.</p><p>“Your knot- <em>please</em>, please, I need it-”</p><p>Nicky groans, a rumble of his chest that makes Joe shiver. Nicky’s swivels his hips and then his knot pops inside, locking them together. Joe’s so close that he’s shaking with it, right on the precipice, and he just needs a little more, he just needs-</p><p>The sharp, jagged pain of Nicky biting into his neck as he spills his seed inside Joe is quickly followed by white-hot pleasure. Joe comes and comes and comes between them, squeezing around Nicky, nails breaking the skin of his back. Nicky makes an aborted jerk with his hips and Joe <em>sobs.</em></p><p>Cool air blows over his skin as Nicky removes his mouth from Joe’s neck. He runs his hand, the back of his knuckle, over the spot, staring at it with something possessive and greedy in his eyes.</p><p>“Mine,” Nicky whispers, reverent, before taking Joe’s chin between his fingers and kissing him again.</p><p>Joe is too far gone to argue.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Floating</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Joe can feel how wet he is between his legs. Everything feels too rough and coarse - even the air is stimulating his over-sensitised skin.</p><p>Fuck. He’s in heat. </p><p>“Fuck,” he repeats out loud to himself.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Idk yet exactly where this is going (I mean, I have some idea, but we'll see!), but here, have some more!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joe’s body is on <em>fire.</em></p><p>Nicky was right; it took about a week for Joe’s hormones to settle, but eventually the urgency faded to a low simmer. Joe has been able to think clearly away from Nicky for all of three days now and it’s not much, but it feels good. He can still feel that errant pull, the undercurrent of <em>Nicky</em> in his subconscious at all times, but it’s no longer a crippling need pressing on the top knob of his spine.</p><p>These past three days have mostly been spent avoiding Nicky as much as possible. Nicky appears to understand his need for space, and mostly respects it. Mostly, the alpha seems adamant on making sure Joe is happy, in his own way – which makes Joe feel irrationally guilty for the cold shoulder he’s been giving him. It’s not <em>really</em> Nicky’s fault that their parents had arranged this mating bond for them, but Nicky could have said no. Joe had no such luxury.</p><p>So when he wakes up in the morning, alone, drenched in sweat, he panics. Everything is burning, prickling need running through him like goosebumps. The smell of peaches overrides his senses, and Joe can feel how wet he is between his legs. Everything feels too rough and coarse - even the air is stimulating his over-sensitised skin.</p><p>Fuck. He’s in heat.</p><p>“Fuck,” he repeats out loud to himself.</p><p>There’ll be no hiding this from Nicky. Hell, Nicky probably already knows something is wrong through their bond. And if Nicky gets near him when he’s like this…</p><p>It’s that thought – the thought of losing it again, of being entirely at his alpha’s mercy – that makes Joe stumble out of bed. He can’t leave the house, not like this, but if he could just get some space between him and Nicky-</p><p>Joe makes his way into the bathroom and locks it behind him. He sinks down onto the tiles, cold and soothing on his too-hot skin, and closes his eyes.</p><p>-</p><p>Joe stirs awake again to the sound of a soft knock on the door.</p><p>“Joe?”</p><p>It’s Nicky. Joe’s heart rate kicks up speed, and for a moment he thinks that Nicky is going to shove the door open and take him anyway. It shouldn’t be appealing, and Joe hates himself for it, but he doesn’t know for sure if the nausea and panic is from that, or the thought that Nicky might leave him here <em>alone.</em></p><p>“I’m not going to force you,<em> tesoro</em>. But I’m also not going to let you hurt yourself.”</p><p>Nicky doesn’t sound angry. He sounds <em>worried.</em></p><p>Joe’s not sure why he’s fighting this so hard. Maybe he just needs to feel in control, when his body is so quickly spiralling out of it. And he knows he won’t be able to do that if Nicky gets through that door.</p><p>Another wave of heat rolls through him, abdomen seizing up in a painful cramp of <em>heatneedcrave</em>. Joe winces, clenching his eyes shut in an attempt not to let out a whimper. He’s soaked through his underwear, cock swollen, and Nicky’s scent carrying through the door next to him is only driving his inner omega further into a craze. To have his alpha so close but not touching him is torture.</p><p>“I don’t understand; you’re aching and hurting because you <em>need me</em>. You need your alpha. I can feel your distress. Let me help you. Let me make it good for you.”</p><p>Joe<em> does</em> whine this time, because he knows Nicky’s telling the truth; it <em>would</em> be good, it’d be <em>perfect; </em>Nicky’s knot inside him, filling him up so well, with Nicky’s big hands spanning across his body. He <em>wants.</em></p><p>“I can make all of this go away if you just unlock this door.”</p><p>For a moment, he considers defying Nicky. But where would that get him?</p><p>Too exhausted to fight it any longer, Joe leans over, shaking fingers fumbling with the latch as he undoes the lock with a<em> snick.</em> The door immediately swings open as Nicky pushes inside the bathroom. Then Joe is scooped up into Nicky’s arms, and he moans aloud in pure relief. He may be a little too far into his heat for Nicky’s touch alone to quell the fever, but he’s no longer in excruciating pain. It occurs to him that this first knotting is not going to be pleasant for either of them.</p><p>Nicky makes a disapproving noise as he, too, comes to the same conclusion, raking his eyes over Joe’s distressed, trembling body. His jaw is tight, scent a little sour with worry.</p><p>Embarrassingly, Joe feels hot tears well up in his eyes.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he chokes out, surprised that he means it. He hates that he’s upset Nicky.</p><p>Nicky swiftly softens. His hands cup Joe’s face, thumbs swiping away the tears on his cheeks.</p><p>“It’s okay, my omega; I’ll make it okay again.”</p><p>Joe can only nod in response. The bond between them has been slipping open, bit by bit, and Joe is quickly losing himself to the rush of endorphins and pheromones rushing into his brain. Nicky’s hand moves to the nape of his neck and he guides Joe’s face into his neck, letting him breathe in the heady scent of <em>alpha.</em></p><p>“Please,” Joe mumbles into his neck, clutching at Nicky’s shirt, white-knuckled and shaking.</p><p>Nicky hums, hands running the length of Joe’s arms until he can take his hands. He gently pries them from their grip and tugs Joe onto his feet and against Nicky’s solid, warm body.</p><p>“I’ve got you, Joe.”</p>
<hr/><p>The first time, Nicky spends far too long with his head between Joe’s thighs, licking into Joe’s hole, spreading his cooling saliva over the hot, puckered rim in an attempt to soothe the fever. Joe can only grip Nicky’s hair and sob, <em>needing</em> more, more, more. Nicky obliges eventually by sliding three easy fingers in deep and <em>rubbing.</em></p><p>Joe <em>howls,</em> convulsing and twitching as his cock twitches and spills onto his stomach. The relief is brief, though, soon replaced with an ache at the emptiness inside of him. he needs a knot, he needs <em>Nicky. </em>He thinks he might be begging for just that, but he can’t tell if it’s coming out as coherent.</p><p>When Nicky’s satisfied with his work, he sidles up beside Joe and urges him to roll onto his side, so he’s cradling Joe, chest to back. One hand curls around his thigh, spreading his leg open, and he uses the other to hold himself up while he prods at Joe’s hole.</p><p>When he sinks inside, Joe thinks he could cry with the sheer relief that washes over his body. Nicky nuzzles the back of his neck, teeth worrying the flesh of his nape, and Joe can only arch into it.</p><p>“My good, sweet omega,” Nicky rumbles, “You needed this, didn’t you? See how good I can make you feel, <em>tesoro?</em>”</p><p>His cock hits Joe’s prostate and Joe keens, the hand not trapped under his body scrambling back to clutch at Nicky’s bicep.</p><p>“You are so lovely, Joe, but especially like this. In my arms, giving yourself over to me,” Nicky coos in his ear, sparking shivers.</p><p>Nicky picks up the pace, and Joe feels Nicky’s knot swelling up, pushing against his hole every time Nicky presses in deep. He’s already mindlessly grinding down, trying to get it in him. Nicky’s grip on his hip tightens slightly.</p><p>“<em>Fuck,</em> Joe. That’s it, my omega, take what you need.”</p><p>Joe wonders if Nicky’s going to ask him to beg for his knot this time. He’s not sure he can. He’s not sure he’s able to form words, any coherency lost to the swarming heat.</p><p>On the next perfect and powerful thrust, Joe’s questions are answered as Nicky’s thick knot slips inside, locking them together.</p><p>And Joe’s so full, finally satisfied, that he can’t help but moan out, “<em>Alpha</em>,” as he comes again on Nicky’s knot.</p><p>It’s the first time he’s called Nicky that since they bonded, and the effect on Nicky is violent and visceral. A moan is punched out of him, and he bites Joe’s neck <em>hard </em>while he shoves even further inside, spilling hot alpha come into Joe’s body.</p>
<hr/><p>He doesn’t remember much after that, his memory filtering in and out over the next few days. He knows Nicky fed him, crackers and bread and cheese from his fingers until he was comfortably full, and made sure he always had water to drink.</p><p>He thinks he rode Nicky at one point, sat in his lap with Nicky’s back up against the headboard, looking up at Joe with nothing short of adoration. There’s a phantom sensation of Nicky gently tracing lines and soothing circles across his back with his fingers as they waited for his knot to go down.</p><p>He <em>does</em> remember waking up on Nicky’s knot after the second day, with Nicky hard and shaking behind him from holding himself back. He also remembers shifting down onto it further, twisting to kiss Nicky. He remembers sighing contentedly as Nicky started up again, gently moving inside Joe until they both came together with a shuddering gasp in each other’s mouths.</p><p>By the time his heat subsides, Joe feels completely sated and relaxed, something that’s never happened in all his years since presenting as an omega at 17.</p><p>He also feels incandescently angry.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next up: Nicky goes into a rut</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Surrounded</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Joe cuts himself off, unable to finish his sentence. Because that is the unmistakable scent of an alpha beginning his rut. The hickory and spiced honey aroma gathering around him, which he had previously mistaken for food, was coming from Nicky.</p><p>Now, Joe’s never been on the receiving end of an alpha’s rut before. But he’s certainly met other omegas who have, and from the glimpses of it he got from the alphas in his household…<br/>“That’s-” Joe coughs, and tries again, “Um. You’re in rut.”</p><p>Very eloquent, Yusuf.</p><p>Nicky puts down the knife and looks at him, really looks at him, seemingly deciding something. Joe notices, for the first time, the taut tension in his shoulders. Then Nicky nods to himself, picks up the knife, and resumes slicing. </p><p>“You don’t have to worry about it. I won’t be troubling you with this.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>dont mind me, posting two chapters in one day~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Unsurprisingly, Joe finds Nicky in the kitchen, making breakfast. Something spicy is hanging in the air, and Joe fights the urge to scent it. He stops in the doorway, far enough away from Nicky that he’s not in danger of getting side-tracked by Nicky’s scent.</p><p>“You had <em>no </em>right,” Joe starts, rancour lacing his tone.</p><p>Nicky doesn’t look up from where he’s preparing the food. “You were being unnecessarily reckless with yourself; that’s unacceptable. I helped you.”</p><p>“I never asked for your help.”</p><p>Nicky raises a doubtful brow at that, and Joe bristles.</p><p>“That doesn’t count. I was well into my heat, delirious-”</p><p>“And whose fault is that?”</p><p>“<em>Yours. </em>I’m so sick of you not respecting my decisions-”</p><p>Joe cuts himself off, unable to finish his sentence. Because that is the unmistakable scent of an alpha beginning his rut. The hickory and spiced honey aroma gathering around him, which he had previously mistaken for food, was coming from <em>Nicky.</em></p><p>Now, Joe’s never been on the receiving end of an alpha’s rut before. But he’s certainly met other omegas who have, and from the glimpses of it he got from the alphas in his household…</p><p>“That’s-” Joe coughs, and tries again, “Um. You’re in rut.”</p><p>
  <em>Very eloquent, Yusuf.</em>
</p><p>Nicky puts down the knife and looks at him, <em>really</em> looks at him, seemingly deciding something. Joe notices, for the first time, the taut tension in his shoulders. Then Nicky nods to himself, picks up the knife, and resumes slicing.</p><p>“You don’t have to worry about it. I won’t be troubling you with this.”</p><p>And okay, Joe knows he should be happy about this. He doesn’t know what Nicky would be like in a rut, but he’s not eager to find out. Nicky is giving him an out, and he should just gratefully take it.</p><p>But something in him can’t help but recoil further at being told what to do. <em>Again. </em></p><p>“So what? It’s okay for you to knot me when I’m vulnerable, but not the other way around?”</p><p>That <em>does </em>get Nicky’s attention; though he hides it well, Joe can tell he’s hit a nerve with the way his grip on the knife tightens, and how he closes his eyes for a second before blinking them at Joe.</p><p>“My comfort is irrelevant, <em>yours</em> is non-negotiable. You can’t lie to me; I can feel your apprehension about this.”</p><p>“You don’t get to just decide what’s best for me,” Joe argues despite himself. Everything at him is screaming to stop, to quit while he’s ahead, but he can’t for the life of him listen.</p><p>Nicky is across the room in a few long strides, suddenly right in front of Joe, effectively trapping him between Nicky and the wall. Joe immediately darts his eyes away, casting his gaze down. The urge to bare his neck and submit is only barely tamped down in time.</p><p><em>Alphas in ruts are dangerous,</em> warns that voice in his mind.</p><p>Nicky fits his hand under Joe’s chin and lifts it until they’re eye to eye. Nicky’s pupils are dilated wide, and his scent is stronger than Joe has ever smelled it – but he doesn’t look <em>wild. </em>He just looks like Nicky. Calm and collected Nicky.</p><p>“Tell me honestly that you want to spend my rut with me,” he murmurs softly.</p><p>It doesn’t feel like a trap. Nicky isn’t asking him to do anything but be honest. His eyes, Joe notes with a pang of sadness, look resigned.</p><p>When Joe doesn’t respond, Nicky takes a step back. Joe both relaxes and covets Nicky’s attention on him. The juxtaposition alone is enough to make him dizzy.</p><p>After a tense and quiet breakfast, Nicky excuses himself to the spare room with a stern order that Joe <em>not </em>follow him in there. Joe finds himself sitting there dumbly as Nicky leaves, completely at odds with himself, wholly unsure of what to do.</p><p>He’s just about ready to give up and distract himself for the day when he feels something shift. He can’t quite put his finger on it, just that something feels…wrong. Off.</p><p>He instinctively reaches a hand to the mating bite that usually sings on his neck, and that’s when it occurs to him: he can’t feel Nicky anymore. The bond is still there, still lingering, but it’s dormant, as if Nicky is asleep- which can’t be right.</p><p>Nicky must be tamping down on it, then. Keeping himself closed off from Joe.</p><p>It sparks off an errant feeling of worry inside of him. Cautiously, Joe closes his eyes and focuses on that tether, imagining himself reaching out to it, to Nicky. He closes his fingers around the thread and-</p><p>Joe is hit with a wave of <em>rutneedgriefwant </em>that’s so powerful his stomach lurches with it. His mate is in pain, and he’s not there to help. That’s all his inner omega can care about, clawing at the walls of his chest, urging him to go to his alpha. To nurture him, to <em>present for him.</em></p><p> Joe thinks about Nicky’s calm demeanour over his tight shoulders. His absolute assuredness that his own pain was secondary to Joe’s comfort. Mostly, he thinks about the fact that Joe can choose to ignore it. Nicky is letting him choose to ignore it.</p><p>Joe could choose to help him, too.</p><p>“<em>Fuckin’ alphas</em>,” Joe swears to himself, before getting up.</p>
<hr/><p>When Joe turns the handle on the door and finds that Nicky has left it unlocked, Joe is not surprised. He most likely thought he wouldn’t have to try and keep Joe away from him, which was entirely fair. Joe himself thought he wouldn’t have to try and keep him away from Nicky.</p><p>But here they were.</p><p>He pushes the door open slowly, careful not to catch Nicky off guard.</p><p>Nicky isn’t on the bed, where Joe imagined he’d be. Instead, he’s pacing the length of the room next to it, counting his breaths. He stops when he sees Joe in the doorway.</p><p>“Joe,” Nicky warns, not unkindly.</p><p>“Alpha,” Joe returns as evenly as he can. He steps fully into the room and closes the door behind him.</p><p>
  <em>No going back now.</em>
</p><p>The room smells overwhelmingly of alpha, of <em>Nicky, </em>aroused and urgent, and Joe can’t help the way his body responds to it. He tries to settles his erratic breathing, focusing as best he can on Nicky’s eyes and not the impressive bulge in his pants.</p><p>Nicky closes his eyes on a shudder at the name, and Joe feels almost drunk with the power it has on him. Is this what it feels like to Nicky?</p><p>Nicky takes a step forward, then stops.</p><p>“Can I-” Nicky starts, gesturing lamely at Joe.</p><p>Joe nods, letting a small smile tug at his lips, trying to quell the fear rising in his stomach. This is Nicky; surely, he won’t hurt Joe more than he needs to.</p><p>Nicky gets up in Joe’s space in a slow, measured way, before leaning down to scent Joe. Joe does bare his neck this time, because it feels right. Because he wants to. Because he chose to come in here.</p><p>At the tilt of his head, Nicky grumbles satisfactorily from deep in his chest. The barest brush of his nose along the mark on his neck has Joe letting out a small moan. He half-expects Nicky to bite him, to take him right there, so when he feels Nicky’s lips kiss the spot tenderly, he’s surprised enough that it makes him drop the tension in his shoulders, relaxing into the door.</p><p>Nicky huffs, lets out another pleased rumble, and then <em>slumps </em>against him. Joe takes his body weight and all that vibrating warmth, trying to figure out what the hell he’s supposed to do now.</p><p>“Nicky,” Joe tries, then starts again, “<em>Alpha,</em> what do you need? What can I do?”</p><p>Nicky whines, hips shifting forward into Joe’s and Joe meets him halfway. They both stutter out a groan as their erections brush against each other, but Joe knows they can’t do this here, like this. Nicky needs something around his knot.</p><p>Joe can be that something.</p><p>He gently pushes at Nicky’s shoulder, who goes easily. Hazy hooded eyes watch Joe with intent and desire as Joe shucks off his clothes and climbs onto the bed. With a deep breath, he gets on his hands and knees, before dropping to his elbows, back arched in a perfect position of presentation.</p><p>He turns his neck to lock eyes with Nicky.</p><p>“Take me, <em>alpha</em>.”</p><p>With his omega’s permission, Nicky’s eyes darken into deep pools of desire. It’s too much, too intense, and Joe can’t look at them any further, so he rests his forehead against the mattress and closes his eyes.</p><p>The first thing he feels is the bed dip, and then lips are pressed to the top knob of his spine. Joe shudders, the sound a trembling thing that quakes along the limbs holding him up. Big hands curl around his hips, pulling him up a bit further, holding him firm.</p><p>Joe cries out when he feels Nicky’s tongue against his rim, encouraging more slick out of his hole, until Joe can barely hold himself up anymore for how weak in the knees he is. Nicky is letting out a constant stream of happy growling, the vibrations only adding to all the overwhelming sensations.</p><p>Nicky stops before Joe can come, and a punched mournful cry wracks his chest. He presses a palm down between Joe’s shoulder blades, a gentle pressure that encourages him to drop down onto his chest, elbows collapsing under him in exhaustion.</p><p>Nicky keeps it there, even as his other hand circles the curve of his ass cheek. He feels two fingers run through the mess over his hole before retreating. Then Nicky’s cock is sliding inside him, thick and slick and <em>perfect.</em></p><p>It’s different from the other times; Nicky doesn’t pause until he’s all the way inside, and even then it’s only for a brief moment before retreating and pushing back in. Joe gasps out a choked breath at the sheer intensity of it.</p><p>There’s an edge there that was missing from Nicky’s usual thrusts – everything is just a little rougher, a little sharper. But no less caring, no less pleasurable, no less <em>Nicky.</em> The alpha keeps his hand holding Joe down while he fucks in and out of him, and Joe moans long and loud with each punch of Nicky’s cock against his prostate.</p><p>Breathless words spill out of his mouth before he can stop them.</p><p>“Come on, <em>alpha,</em> yeah, give it to me-”</p><p>He comes ridiculously, embarrassingly quick, with Nicky’s perfect aim and control, his grip vice-like as he clamps down on Nicky’s cock. Nicky groans, speeding up as his thrusts get more forceful the closer he gets to the edge.  </p><p>Every time he brushes Joe’s abused prostate, Joe sobs, clawing at the sheets. He can’t decide if he’s trying to get more or less, but Nicky keeps him exactly where he wants him, fucking into him over and over until his knot works its way inside Joe too.</p><p> “Oh, fuck, love your knot, <em>god,</em> <em>Nicky</em>, <em>love-”</em> Joe cuts himself off with a groan, shoving back onto Nicky’s knot.</p><p>Nicky makes a funny noise in his throat behind him at that, and then he drapes himself over Joe’s back, hands finding Joe’s and gripping them tight as he comes hard, knotted and tied to Joe, breathing heavily into his neck.</p><p>When Nicky presses another damp, gentle kiss there, Joe’s heart flutters without his permission.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did we like it??</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Don't look at me, I am weak for this dynamic, I could be easily persuaded into writing more</p><p>If you liked this, leave a comment below!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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